Process of treating blast-furnace gases and preparing char-peat.



E; Looms. PRQCSS 0F TRBATING BLAST FUBNAUE GASES AND PRPABEHG GEAR PEM.

APPLICATION FILED HAY 28, 1906.

`3 SHEETS-SHEET liv B. LOOMIS. v kPROGESS 0F TRBATING BLAST FURNAGB GASES AND PBBPABING GEAR FEAT.

APPLIUATION FILED HAI 28,'1906. Patented May 2, 1911.

3 BHEETB-BHEET 2.

3 wanton @mi b1 @was B. Looms. PROCESS OP TREATING BLAST FURNAGB GASES AND PREPARING GEAR PRAT.

o l i AAPPLI-ATIOH FVILED HAY 28, 1906. 2,

s SEMS-SHEET a.

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` carried hy the hlastdurimee.gases is tinallv' \'ated an abundant suppl riep. l

BURIDETT LOMIS, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T0 LOOMIS UTILIZATION I I CGIMIF'ALNY, A CORPORATION 0F NEW JERSEY.

PRGCESS 0F TREATING- BLAST-FURNAGE GASES AND PREPARING CHAR-FEAT.

oooeoi.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1911.

Application faea May 28, 190s. serial No. 319,;48;

To all lwlmm it may concern:

lie it known that l, BURDETT Loomis, a citizen ot the United States. residing at llartto'd. in the eountyof Hartford and t-`tate olv Connecticut. have invented certain new and useful lmproven'ients in Processes ot Treating Blast-Furnaee Gases and Preparing thar-leat, ot whieh the following is' a specification.

This invention relates to a process,`of eliarring peat, eleaning. enriching and utilizing hlast turnaee gases, separating and colleeting,hy-products of condensation from peat raporsand gases.

rl`he ohjeet ol my invention is to provide t'or cleaning blast-furnace gases, at the same time eharring peat* hy meansthereot' and distilling volatile h vdrm'arbons and other products troni the peat, thereinv enriching or earhureting the` gases and tittiiig them :For use in the sluelting operation, or for heatingv the hot hlast stoves, sueh as regenerative or direct tired furnaces usually con neeted with blast-furnaces, or otherwise used in iron and steel plants.

ln certain localities woodeliareoal'is used 't'or smelting iron ore in blast-furimces, but, owingl to the rapidi;- diminishing .snppl \y of wood, the expense of charcoal has become almost. ilE not quite. prohibitive tor smeltinp` purposes. A great. and heretofore, protahle industrris therefore threatened with extinction. l'n these .same localities peat hogs are tound from which may'he exeaf i', 4of high grade peat which may he eti'eetively and economi-- call)v utilized in smelting operatihns. ln my prof-ess. the peat is tirst used and enrifghing hlast-turnzu'e gases, while. at the saine time. the hotgases serve to dfistil peat and reduce it to eolie or charpeat. The volatile matter distilled trom the peat and condensed to the condition ot' `peat-tarv andi. peat tar-water. certain portion ofthe volatile matter in the peat' is converted into rich hydrocarbon which .serres tor enriching the hlastd'nrnaee g/ases. These gases. thus enriched. are praetieall)v tree from sulfur and are ot highealorilic -\'alue. 'lhewrv serve admirably tor various metallurgical operations and as a motive power in gas engines. ln my process, part ofthe enriched gas. after passing the condenser, is returned and burned in a gas heating turn-ace in Px i apparatus with parts in section.

tor cleaning i which the blastet'urnaee gases are addition ally heated to adapt them for more eil'eetively distilling and 4ehairing peat. The gases passed from the blast-furnace are sometimes not sutiiciently heated for charring peat. and for this reason are additionall y heated before admission to the charring chambers. The gases not required vfor this heating operation ma)v be stored in a holder and withdrawn for other uses. Two Vvarieties or qualities of charred peat-eolie will be made which may be designated as peat-colte and peatsteam-coke. The peat-colte Serves as a substitute for charcoal forthe manufacture otl refined iron. For this purpose the.

peat-coke can be `consolidated to such a d'egree that it. possesses almost the same` Strength of compression colte produced from coal. The peat steam-colte burns with' a tlame and serves as a fue] for locomotives, and for use in factories and private houses.

From the peat-tar nia7 be manufacturedp motor oil, gas oil, ereosote, paratlin and lubricating oil. The peat tar-water separated in the condenser yields, under proper treatment, ammonium sulfate. Calcium acetate. methylic alcohol, Commonly known as wood alcohol. I

The matter constituting my invention will he set 'forth inthe claims.

l will now describe the details o'tj eonstruw tion of my` apparatus andthe method ot operating the same h r reference to the aeeoinpanying drawings, in which.-- t

`Figure l represents an ele 'ation of the VFig. 2` represents :i top plan'riew ot the same. Fig. C-l-iepresents a sectional elevation ot appa` ratas for extairating'and drying the peat. a pug mill, a peat charring chamber and suitahle connecting eonreyers for supplying blocks ot peat to the eharring chamber. `Fig. I'Li-epreseiits aseetional detail view. on enlarged scale, Ot a part of the peat; drier. Fig. et represents aseetional elevation of a condense and a connected tan blower.

The blast furnace A ma)v be of the usual construction and provided with a charging` hell a. The gas take-ottl pipe or downcoiner a may lead tirol-n the top of the furnace in the nsual manner and at its lower end coi-Ttneet with a .header or main pipe o2. Vith this header connect two gas outlet pipes af" and a* leading into heating furnaces B and B1 and by connections, preferably. to the fto 5 bases of the gas cleaning and peat charring chambers C, etc.

I preferably construct the gas heaters and ,the peat charring chambers in ltwo serie's, 7,

so that coke in one series may be cooling o and discharged while the other set is 1n acltive operationor cleaning blast-furnace gas and charring peat. For the purpose of illustration, I show two charring chambers 'connected in each series .so that hot gas may' be passed up and down in one direction and then reversedrand passed in the opposite direction through the series. I will describe one series only and the operation therein as both series will be constructed and operated alike. The charrinU chambers'C and C1 are constructed of plaate steel or boiler iron riveted together in a well known-manner and arel provided with top charging openings and tight fitting lids c and at the hot-l as.

ischargng doors c.

.dip ipeD1 having its lower end sealed in the liquid. The chambers C and C1 are also connected at the top by a pipe G having a valve g, so thathot gases may. be passed up and 'down in either direction through them.

The charring chambers C, C1 aresu ported-on suitable posts or foundations E1, for providing chambers of passa e-ways below them in which is laid a vtrac p On this track are run ears p adapted to vbe centered below the discharging doors c for receiving coke or char eat from the chamber.

The blasturnace gases "may at times be,

too low in temperature for effectively-char'.-

ring peat; and I therefore provide for heatin'g such gases before admission to the charring chambers. A gas heating furnace B is provided with a series of return-bend pipes J with which connects a pipe J1, having a valve b, leading from the main ipes A a, a3.4 Anfoutlet pipe J2, having a va ve j,

leads from heating pipe J back into main pi-pe a3. A valve a5 is connected in the main pipe a-3 between 'the'branch pipes J1 and J2,

as shown in Fig. 2. By means 'of these pipe" and valve connections gas may he passed either through the heater B and thence into the cliarring chambers or directly from the blast-furnace into the charrin After the charring chambers been filled with peat in bulk or com ressedblocks, as shown in Flgr' 3, blast urnace` directly from the as is preferably passe rnace through pipe a1* into and through chambers. C1, havey S and an operating electric motor 1.

the chambers till most of the. moisture is driven out, and then valve a5 is closed and valve I) opened.. The blast furnace gas is now highly heated by passage through pipes? J in furnace B and is then passed by1 pipe Jz into pipe ai beyond valve a" and thence in to and through thecharring chambers till` during the early stages when much-moisture is to be driven oil'. The heating furnace B is preferably heated by gas drawn 0H' from the holder through pipe M aiid'admitted by pipe M1, having a valve m. into the base of the4 heater. An air inlet pi e C, having a valve o, connects with pipe 1 for sappiging air to the burner. The burner may c of a well known kind and two or more of them may be arranged at different points in the circumferential wall of chamber B and at the base thereof, as shown. h

The condenser E may be of the well known water tube variety being constructed with upper and lower tu e sheets e and c, connected by tubes e and provided with upper and lower gas chambers, as indicated-" l in Fig. 1. An overflow' tar-water pipe f, having a valve, leads from the lower gas chamber of the condenser i'nto a tarwell or boxl". A gas outlet -pipe H, having a valve L, leads from. the upper gas chamber of the condenser to theexhauster K and a pipe H1 leadsl therefrom to the holder L. A gas outlet pipe M leads from the holder and conducts gas to heating furnace B and to other furnaces, for use as fuel therein.

With the tops of the charring chambers C andl C1 collect water supply pipes N,

having valves n for supplying water to washout dust and ashes from the charred eat, and cool the same sfo that it will not e ignited when being discharged from the charring chambers. Discharge pipes N1, having vvalves n', are connected with the bottoms of chambers C and C1 for takin? od washwater, carrying dust and ashes roni the-coke or char-peat.

Suitable afpparatus for excavating peat from a bog, rying it, forming briquets-and feeding the bricks to a charring chamber is illustrated in Fig.,` 3. A centrifugal enca-- vating ump I and 'a connecting electric motor are mounted on a barge or other .suitable support, and the pump'is provided with a rotary cutter 1I and with a discharge pipe z" leading to the top of adrying crib R. The crib R is provided with slots and a i ,series of supporting rods 1' at dierent heights. Below the crib is placed a pug the peat is discharged from this mill it is cut into blocks by a cutter s.

T is passed over rollers t, t and so ar- A conveyer ranged that the blocks of peat will be taken from the pug mill and discharged at the top of the drying chamber UL In this drying chamber is arranged, one above another, a series `ofhorizontal drying belts or aprons u on` which the blocks of peat are traversed batik andl forth through the chamber while currents of hot air are circulated in'contact therewith for carrying olf the `contained 1G moisture. 'Ifh'e blocks of peat as delivered fromilthe pug mill are soft and would not makdcoke sufficiently dense and hard for the 1pst successful use in a blast furnace. l theiiefore place in the upper part of drying chamber U, preferably at the end of the second drying apron u, a pair of squeezing rollers u, Fig. 3a, through which the blocks are passed and squeezed or compressed so as to make them more dense and hard. A. second conveyer T1 carries blocks of dried peat from the lower apron u to the Working floor W, above the charring chambers. A perfoi-ated horizontal partition u is placed below thedrying belts for distributing currents of hot air through the whole areaof the chamber. In a chamber below` this partition is arranged a coil 0r serpentine of hot air pipe X having an upper perforated discharge pipe w adjacent to the partition."

Hot air is conveyed to the coil X by a pipe r leading from a heating furnacel or oven E3, as shown in Fig. et.'

W ith the lower end of the tube chamber of the condenser is connected a fan blower -Y by means of a pipe nThey cold air circulated between the tubes e serves to cool and condense the vapors passing through the tubes While, at the same time, the air becomes heated. This heated air is 40 passed off from theupper end of the tube chamber by pipe y into the series of pipes ,I of' the heating oven or furnace B3. In these pipes, the air is further heated by ,burning gas admitted by burnersv m in the This gas will be snp-v base ofthe furnace.

plied from 'the holder L. rlfhis heated lair is then passed from pipe a" into the coil X in the base of the drying chamberll.. On a suitable support 'near ldlc top of `the dryingr chamber is placed an exhaust fan V,.liav1'ng an inlet pipe c' leading from theV upper partof chamber U and an outlet pipe jv discharging into the outer air. By means of the devices for heating agir and discharg'mg it into the baser of the drying chamber and. the exhaust fan for drawing olf moist airl from the top of the drying chamber, the

' blocks of peat traversed back and forth ou the aprons are rapidly dried and prepared for feeding into the charring chamber C.

The charring chambers having been filled with blocks of peatA and the blast furnace being in operation, the hot gases discharged through the takeoff pipe ar into header (L2 are passed therefrom through pipe a and described.

'most of the contained moisture and are in the best'condition forreadily charring and making coke and char-peat. T he blast fur nace gas is now, preferably, passed thrc i .the heater B by closing valve a5 and opening valve thereby causing the gas to pass through the heating pipes J which are heated by burners supplied by gas pipe M1, and air pipe O. The highly heated blast furnace gas is now passed by pipe J2 and pipe a3 through valve brinto the charring chamber Cf and is thence passed from the top thereof-through pipe G down through chamber C and is taken ofi' at the base thereof through Valve al and pipe D to the condenser E. The gases are now drawn olf through the condenser by the exhauster and may be passed directly to the holder L. rlhe gas pipe M may conduct'part of the gases back to the base of the heating furnace where they are burned to heat furnace B andthe blast furnace gases. By means of the hot gases-which pass into chamber C?, the peat is gradually distilled and charred, giving .olf its volatile hydrocarbons which are mixed with the blast furnace gases. The gases, still hot, pass from the chamber C1 through upper pipe and thence through the peut in chamber C where distillation and charring are partially eii'ected and `then the are passed ott' through pipe l). After the peat in chamber C1 has become sutli-` ciently or partially distilled and charred, the inlet valve bf is closed and the inlet vvalve b is opened, admitting heated blast-furnace gasesdircctly into the base of chamber C. Valve d being closed and valve (Z opened gaswill now be passed from chamber C ott' through pipc l) lo the-condenser, as before ln the condenser there is separatedfroln the gas peat-tai' and peat tarwater `which flow oil' through a pipe, having a valve f, into a tank l which in practice will be pro vided with a suitable trap or liquid seal. rlhe tar and tar-water are afterward separated and separately treat-ed for obtaining valuable products. The peat-tar yields motor oil, gas oil, creosote and paraiiin. The peat tar-Water, under proper chemical trcatment, yields ammonium sulfate, calcium acetate, and methylic alcohol, or wood spirit. rThe gas, after passing the condenser, con

tains a valuable percentage of noncondensahle carburetedhydrogen, making it sufiiciently rich for ,incandescent gas lighting, :tor motive power 1n gas engines, for

heating forge furnaces and various other.

uses.

When it happens that thel blast-furnace gases are not hot enough for effectively distilling and charringpeat, 'they are passed first into the heating furace B by closing valve o and opening valve l), and are therein heated by passing through the returnbend pipes J. The valve j in pipe J2 being open, hot gas is passedon through pipe at and is admitted therefrom either throu h vaive b orv Z/into one or the other of t e chambers C, C1 where the charring operation is conducted, as above described. For the. purpose of heating furnace B and the pipe J therein, gas is drawn from the holder the toips of the chambers containing charred .manner to the blast-furnace.

peat or cooling the same and washing out the deposited dust and ashes and atthls time the top lidsror covers c may be opened f for permitting the escape of steam. The

waste wash-water, carrying dust and ashes will be passed off through pipes N1 by opening valves a. The coke or char-peat, having been Washed and cooled, may bedischarged from the chambers through the bottom doors c into cars p', and fedin any well-known Charges of ore, char-peat, and limestone will be prepared in substantially the same manner as with woodv charcoal and fed to the top of the blast-furnace.

The apparatus herein shown and 'described is not claimed in this application, as it is made the subject of a copending application, Serial. Number 547,494, filed March 5, 1910.

'Having described my invention, what I claim, and'4 desire to secureby Letters Patent, s,-' l

1. The process of treating blast furnace .vasesiwhich consists in passing them while liot through moist peat, thereby arresting dust and ashes, an.;l .istilling volatile hydro- 'carbons from the.v eat, and carrying the same olf with the c eaned gas for use in a furnace or hot blast stoves.

2. T e process of Vtreating blast furnace gases. which consists in passm peat rst 1n one direction and then inl the reverse direction, thereby arresting the contained dust and ashes, and distilling volatile hydrocarbons from the peat and charring the latter, and carr ing off the hydrocarbon y,vapors with the c eaned gas for use in a them whileJ hot through two or more bo ies of moist heating furnace, hot blast .stoves and other places.

3. .The process of .treating blast furnace gaseszand preparingpeat for fuel'which consists in lpassing hot gases vfrom a blast furnae through a body of moist peat, thereby arras-tin du'st and ashes, and distilling volatile hy( rocarbons and charring the peat,

and passing ott" the resulting enriched gas,

then, when the peat is charred, shutting oi the gas and spraying the char-peat with water for cooling it and washing out the dust and ashes.

4. The herein described method of treating blast furnace gases and utilizing gases which consists in drawing off the hot gases from a blast furnace and passing themthrough a body of peat thereby arresting tile hydrocarbons and charring the peat, carrying off the hydrocarbon vapors with the cleaned gas and passing the enriched.

'the contained dust and ashes, distilling vola- 

